Social Media News: August
Robotics in the future of Snapchat, having video chats with your friends on Instagram, and being able to watch live television on Facebook are just a few milestones that happened in the social media world this August.
- Facebook continues to prove to be top dog of the social media world with their launching of Facebook Watch
- This powerplay move ranks Facebook up there among competitors like Netflix, Amazon, and Youtube
- Watch, which will be accessible on Facebook’s mobile, desktop, and television apps, will offer suggestions for new shows based on what your friends and communities are enjoying. Facebook will also release original video content
- When users watch a show, they will be able to connect with friends and other viewers who are watching
- You can also now buy and sell things via Facebook’s Marketplace feature
- Marketplace is expanding to include professional products and services offered by retailers
Takeaways…
- Facebook continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the social media world, and their advancements in video and ads will boost revenue for the company
- Facebook is making it so users can virtually do everything they need to do during their day to day routine via the website, creating competitions for sites like Amazon and eBay
- Instagram is making comments easier to navigate by launching comment threads
- ‘Comment threads’ is a new format that makes it easy to see which comments are original and which ones are responses to other comments
- With the update, users can hit the ‘reply’ button underneath any comment and the response will appear grouped underneath the original comment, which makes it easier for users to keep track of conversations
- Instagram is also allowing users to go live with their friends
- The app is beginning to let users add others directly to their broadcasts
Takeaways…
- Instagram’s update will make users’ feeds a better place to share interests, get inspired, and connect with others, thus making it an even more interactive experience – especially by upping their video game
- The platform continues to help users regulate comments on their photos, and to make the comment section a “friendly place”
- Twitter launched Night Mode for desktops
- Night Mode is ideal for a deliberately darkened workplace or in the evening, and will overall be a lot easier on the eyes
- On August 23rd, Facebook stopped working, so users flocked to Twitter
- Twitter users were tweeting “#facebookdown” voicing their anger – this outage proved to be a momentary spike in traffic for the website
Takeaways…
- Twitter keeps attempting to find ways to make their website a more user-friendly experience
- Users desperate for some sort of platform prove just how crucial social media is in their lives, and how quickly they are ready to jump ship between sites – because of this, sites like Twitter need to find ways to keep loyalty among their users
Snapchat
- Snapchat is in talks to acquire “Zero Zero Robotics,” a Chinese selfie drone manufacturer
- Although nothing is completely confirmed, the move would make sense for Snap, which has investigated developing their own drones, as well
- Revenue from Snap’s Spectacles, their first attempt at hardware, fell during the second quarter
- Despite this, and the fact that Snapchat hasn’t been performing well overall as of late, advertisers don’t appear to be concerned
- Snapchat’s user base is comprised of mostly 13 to 24 year olds, among the most valuable audience for advertisers, and the amount of time people spend on Snapchat is “staggering”
Takeaways…
- Although Snapchat still appeals to the targeted audience, they may have to start looking for new and innovative ways to increase revenue
- With video on the rise among other platforms, Snapchat may have to continue to turn to other methods to attract users